The Rock 'n' Roll Panto Cinderella review

This show from writer Luke Barnes and director James Baker, blends panto tradition with refreshing modernity. Popular Liverpool panto regular Ben Welch makes a welcome return, in the combined role of dame and fairy godmother – named, naturally, Dame Fairy Godmother. The character is a cheeky nod to Cilla Black, highlighted by the appearance of Adam Keast as her sidekick Graham. This is Keast’s 21st panto for the Everyman, but for once he is not cast as a love interest for the dame: Graham and Dame Fairy Godmother are on a Blind Date-themed mission to bring together the beleaguered Ellanora and hapless Prince Charming. And there is no wicked stepmother in sight.

Instead, Ellanora’s nemesis is her father, played by a moustachioed Zoe West, while the ugly sisters are replaced by Folarin Akinmade and Rebecca Levy as siblings Dench and Judi. The happy ending, too, is destined to take a unconventional form.

In only his second appearance here as dame, Welch makes the role very much his own, and is a commanding presence on the stage. Keast is a great comic foil, although his role feels somewhat under-developed. Also making a return from last year is Aminita Francis, who gives a tremendously strong turn as the Queen on a doomed mission to find a princess for her son.

Thomas Fabian Parrish has a great deal of charm as the Prince, even if this royal heir fancies himself as a different sort of superhero, and gives the impression that he would sooner go to Comic Con than a masked ball. The real fairy tale here, meanwhile, is Grace Venus as Ellanora. Still completing her studies at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Venus makes a genuinely outstanding professional debut with a confident and captivating performance that really holds the audience.

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